


Home Alone

by AllyriaDondarrion



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad boy Theon, Christmas, Gen, Home Alone inspired, House Stark is a very big family, Ironborn thieves, Most characters are minor characters, POV Catelyn Tully Stark, POV Ned Stark, POV Rickon Stark, POV Sansa Stark, POV Theon Greyjoy, Rating could be General Audiences but I've chosen Teen and Up Audiences about explicit language, Rickon as Kevin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27904735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyriaDondarrion/pseuds/AllyriaDondarrion
Summary: On Christmas Eve the whole Stark family with all of their relatives celebrate together in their large house in Winterfell. Everyone is very excited because Eddard's childhood friend, Robert Baratheon has a great hotel in King's Landing and he invited the whole family for the Christmas holiday and New Year. Rickon, the youngest son of Eddard and Catelyn behaves badly so Catelyn punishes him: he has to sleep alone in the attic.In the night when everyone sleeps, a storm destroy the power lines and causes power outages. In the morning the alarm clocks don't wake up the family so they oversleep. When the driver of the airport minibus wakes them ringing the doorbell, they get up immediately, except Rickon who sleeps in the attic. The family is in a rush not to be late for the plane to King's Landing. Before they depart, Eddard asks Theon Greyjoy, a young man from the street to take care of the house while no one is at home. He doesn't know the fact that Theon helps a band from the Iron Islands led by Dagmer Cleftjaw to sack empty houses nearby.Rickon who is left home alone has to defend the house from the thieves!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I'm writing this story for the Thrones Amino's Christmas Tale challenge but I also post it here. I hope you'll like it :)

**Rickon POV**

Christmas holiday is not the best holiday of the year – Rickon thinks as he’s sitting by the table at the family dinner. Normally he loves school holidays because he doesn’t have to wake up early but this was an exception. At school he meets his friends and then he comes home he has his own room but Christmas is the time of the year he isn’t allowed to meet them or cannot be alone because all of the relatives of the Stark family is here in their house and celebrates together. It means a lot of people because Rickon’s father has three siblings and his mother has two, all of them are married with more children.

Rickon is bored with the family because everyone is very busy with their own things. The adults are talking about politics, the older boys about girls and the girls about boys and fashion. These are very boring topics for a boy of eight, so he stands up and leaves the table.

“Rickon, where are you going?” asks Catelyn, his mother.

“Outside.” he answers.

“You haven’t eaten your dinner yet.” she states.

“I’m not hungry.” Rickon says.

“Alright, your lemon cake is mine.” Sansa, his eldest sister says.

“Don’t you fear you will be fat?” asks Arya her sister.

Rickon is not interested in this conversation. He leaves the dining room and goes to the hall. Normally it’s big and spacious but now everywhere are the coats and shoes of the relatives. He finds his boots quite easily but finding his jacket is more complicated. He throws down to the floor all of the coats including his sister’s elegant grey leather-coat with fur and her Aunt Lysa’s coat made of mink’s fur and cost so much.

Finally, he finds his jacket and puts it on but all the other coats he leaves on the floor. He leaves the house but outside is so cold. He puts his hands into his pocket but he has forgotten his cap and his head is cold. He wants to go inside but the door is closed and he has no keys with him.

“Shit.” he says and knocks on the door. No one hears it. He knocks again and yells. “Someone let me in, please!” Nothing is happening, so he pushes the doorbell. It rings.

Some moments later he hears his eldest brother swearing. “What the fuck…”

Then a scream of a woman is heard. Finally, the door opens and Robb looks at his little brother frowningly.

“Rickon, why did you do that?” he asks angrily. “I fell on my face about this bloody mess!”

“I just wanted to go outside…” the little boy explained.

From the background Aunt Lysa’s crying is heard. “My beautiful mink-coat! This little devil threw it down to the floor!”

Robb steps away from the door and Rickon can enter. He sees his aunt crying while her husband Jon Arryn hugs her. “Calm down, Lysa! He will make order.” he says and looks at Rickon. “You will hang back all the coats to the coat rack, won’t you?”

Rickon doesn’t answer. He feels hurt. He takes off his coat and drops it to the others. “Now it looks better.” he says nastily.

“Rickon, hang back the coats to the coat rack.” Robb tells him.

“I’m just eight, too small to reach the coat rack.” the child tries to protest but everyone looks at him angrily.

Finally, Catelyn arrives and takes up some coat. “Shame on you, Rickon.” She says as she hangs them. “I hope you won’t behave like this in King’s Landing.” She looks at her son seriously and tells him. “Now you should apologize to Lysa for her coat.”

“I won’t.” Rickon says.

“Rickon!” his mother yells at him.

“I won’t apologize to her until she tells me sorry for her little shit son moving into my room!” he yells.

Everyone looks at him in shock, no one can say anything. Lysa’s son, the seven years old Robin stands behind his mother and looks at his cousin with dull eyes. When Rickon beholds him, he starts to bully him.

“Robin the little shit who pisses in bed at age seven! You should move out of my room or I’ll bash you!”

Robin starts crying and Lysa bends down to hug him. Rickon laughs but no one else beside him. “I will strangle you while you’re sleeping because dead people don’t piss!”

“Rickon, shut up!” Catelyn yells and grabs his arm.

“Fuck, mommy, it hurts!” he yells.

“Don’t talk dirty!” she yells and takes him upstairs.

Two other cousins of Rickon’s are staring at them while they are going downstairs. When Catelyn and Rickon are on the upper floor, the woman lets her son’s arm. She looks at him angrily.

“Rickon, I’ve told you many times, you should spend only one night in the same room with your cousin.” she tells him. “Tomorrow morning we’re travelling to King’s Landing where you and Bran will have a room with two big beds.”

“But mommy, I’ve told you, I don’t want to share my room with Robin!” Rickon complains. “He’s a piece of shit and isn’t potty-trained at age seven!”

“I’ve never said I agree with my sister’s method of raising a child because I don’t, but you always bully this poor boy and use dirty words which are as disgusting as his behaviour like a baby.” Catelyn says. “The night won’t be long. We’ll get up early tomorrow.”

“But I don’t want to share my room with Robin Fucking Arryn anymore!” Rickon yells. “Last year he pissed into my bed, if he does it again, I swear, I’ll kill him!”

“He won’t do it, if he doesn’t drink too much.” his mother says. “I’ve told Lysa and Jon not to give much soda to him.”

“It would have been better if you hadn’t offered my room to their fucking pisshead son!” Rickon continues. “You’re the most irresponsible mother ever!”

Catelyn slaps him in the face. “Shut up, Rickon!” she yells and grabs his arm again and takes him up to the attic. “If you don’t want to share your room with your cousin, you’ll sleep in the attic alone!” She opens the attic’s door and takes her son inside.

“Alright, attic is good enough, at least I don’t have to see anyone from this stupid family!” Rickon replies. “If I grow up, I will live alone and I will never invite any of you to my home!”

“Alright, young lord.” Catelyn says. “If you hate us, you should ask Santa for another family.”

“I don’t need any family!” he yells.

“I hope you stay up here for the rest of the night.” she says as she leaves the attic. “I hope I won’t see you until morning.”

“I hope I won’t see anybody from the family ever.” Rickon replies.

“You’d be sad if tomorrow morning you woke up and didn’t have a family.” Catelyn says.

“I wouldn’t.” the boy says. “I hope I’ll never see anyone of you again.”

Catelyn says nothing just looks at her son with upset eyes. She closes the door of the attic.

Rickon remains alone. He’s angry and is fed up with the whole Christmas holiday. He sits down on a mattress and covers himself with an old blanket. “I wish they would all disappear for tomorrow!” he says and closes his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At night there was power outages, so the clocks don't alarm in the morning. Eddard and his wife Catelyn oversleep and they're in a rush. They don't care about anything else just not to be late for the plane. They forget check their children one by one...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, everybody's alive here, not just the characters who played in the show :))

**Eddard POV**

Eddard lies half asleep in his bed with his wife when he hears something similar to the doorbell. He turns to his other side and opens his eyes a bit. Catelyn is sleeping next to him. The doorbell rings again. The woman also wakes up.

“Who is that so early in the morning?” she asks and yawns.

“I’ll see it.” Eddard answers. He yawns and gets up. He steps into his slippers then goes to an armchair and puts on his dark blue bathrobe over his pyjamas. He leaves the room and goes to the front door. He opens it and sees a man wearing a black jacket and a cap with the logo of the Winterfell Airport.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark.” the man greets him. “The three buses which you have ordered are here and waiting for you.”

“Good morning.” Eddard replies. “You’ve got here so fast.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, but you have ordered us for 8:00 AM.” the airport bus driver says. “Now it’s 8:05 AM.”

“What?” Eddard asks with surprise.

“We’re in a five minute late.” the driver explains.

“Could you wait about ten more minutes?” Eddard asks him.

“Of course, Mr. Stark.” he answers.

“Alright, thank you.” Eddard says and closes the door.

“Is that the bus driver?” he hears the voice of his sister.

He turns towards her voice and sees Lyanna as she’s leaving the kitchen. She’s wearing a soft blue jumper and jeans.

“Ned, why are you wearing pyjamas?” she asks with surprise. “It’s five past eight!”

“I know…” he says. “I will be ready in time. Please, collect the family.”

“I’ve told you many times you shouldn’t be so old-fashioned. There is alarm on your phone, too.” she says. “If you had used it, you wouldn’t have overslept.”

“I know but please, collect the family, we’ll meet outside ten minutes later.” he tells her again.

“Okay.” Lyanna says and starts walking towards the rooms of the children.

Eddard goes back to his bedroom and opens his wardrobe. He takes out a shirt and his jeans and quickly gets dressed. Fortunately, he had a shower last night so he doesn’t have to wait for Catelyn while she’s in the bathroom. He gets ready in five minutes and knocks on the bathroom’s door.

“Cat, hurry up!” he says.

“I’ll be ready in ten minutes.” she answers.

“The plane departs at 9:00 AM.” Eddard tells her. “I’ll go outside and tell the driver to wait a bit.”

“Alright.” Catelyn says.

Eddard leaves the room. In the hallway he puts on his shoes and coat and leaves the house. He sees the three airport minibuses and the drivers standing next to one. One of them is smoking and the other two are talking with the boy next door. Not really, the boy is asking a lot of questions, the drivers sometimes answer. Ned Umber is eight like Rickon and he’s a very curious child.

Not far from the buses, Bran and the younger children are playing snowball war. Not really, they’re throwing snowballs only at Robin Arryn who is trying to hide from them desperately but he can’t because he always falls on his face and is squealing like a pig.

Four against one is not fair, Eddard thinks. “Children, stop this madness and behave well!” he yells at them. All the children stop and look at him.

“Okay, daddy.” Bran says.

“Now go to the buses, stay there and try not to kill each other.” the man tells them.

The children obey and go to the buses. Eddard walks to the driver who has just put out his cigarette. The driver looks at him. “Could I help you?” he asks.

“Yes, please.” the head of the Stark family answers. “My wife is still staying inside. We should wait ten more minutes.”

“Alright, Mr. Stark.” he says.

“Could I ask how long it takes to reach the airport?” Eddard asks.

“It takes half an hour if there isn’t big traffic.” the driver replies. “It’s 8:18 AM now.”

“Thank you!” Eddard says and runs back to the house.

At the door he meets his eldest daughter. Sansa has always been a fashionista and now she has two big packages full of clothes which her elder brother Robb and their cousin Jon, Lyanna’s son help her with. She also has a smaller package, a designer bag on her arm.

“Sansa, please, could you count the children?” he asks her.

“Of course, daddy.” she replies.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” he says and enters the house.

In the hallway he meets his old friend Jon Arryn who’s waiting for his wife. Lysa is standing in front of a big mirror and making up herself.

“Lysa, we don’t have time for it.” Eddard says.

“I’ve told her but she doesn’t want to understand it.” the older man replies.

“I’ll go nowhere without make-up!” Lysa whines and continues putting her lipstick on.

“The way to the airport takes half an hour and now it’s 8:20 AM. The plane departs at 9:20 AM, we don’t have time for it!” Eddard yells. He’s about to lose his temper. “We’ll leave you if you don’t stop doing it now!”

The door of Ned and Catelyn’s room is opened and Catelyn steps out of it. “I’m ready.” she says.

Her husband looks at her. She doesn’t wear any make-up but he still finds her pretty. _I wish her sister was as fast as she is,_ he thinks and supposes that Jon thinks the same.

“Alright, everybody should go to the buses now!” Eddard says and leaves the house.

After Catelyn and the Arryn couple leave the house, Eddard closes the door and locks it with keys then goes to a bus. The children and the other adults have already got on except Robin. He runs to his parents.

“Get on this bus, not the other one!” he whines and points at the first bus. “I don’t want to travel with Bran and his uncle’s evil children!”

“Alright, Sweetrobin, we’ll travel with this one.” Lysa says and takes her son’s hand.

“We’ll go with the other.” Catelyn says and she runs to the bus which Bran is sitting on.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark.” Eddard hears a voice. “Are you travelling this Christmas?”

He turns around and beholds Theon Greyjoy, a nice young man living in the street for two years.

“Good morning, Theon.” he says. “We’re travelling to King’s Landing for the holiday. We’ll go home on the second of January.”

“Sounds great.” Theon says.

“We must go now if we don’t want to be late for the plane.” Eddard tells him and gets on a bus. Before closing the door, he looks at the young man again. “Theon, please, would you mind taking care of the house while we are away?” he asks.

“No, of course.” the boy answers. “The house will be safe with me.”

“Thank you so much, Theon, and very merry Christmas!” he says.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark. Have a nice journey!” Theon says with a big grin.

Eddard closes the door of the bus and the three vehicles depart.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not Lyanna is the one who uses the alarm function of her phone. Sansa also does it, but it doesn't help her. She gets up in time but she messes the time. It's not enough, she makes a fatal mistake with counting the children...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some note about Stark family and their relatives at the end of this chapter.

**Sansa POV**

The mobile phone alarm goes off. Sansa takes her phone and mutes it as fast as she can, then looks at the clock. It’s 6:30 AM. Both of her roommates are still sleeping. No matter, at least she can have a fast shower. She gets up and goes to the bathroom.

The fast shower certainly wasn’t as fast as she planned because it’s 7:10 AM when she leaves the bathroom. She wears only a light pink bathrobe and her slippers. She cannot tell what she did for more the half an hour but she must hurry with getting dressed and making up herself if she wants to be ready for 8:00 AM without skipping the breakfast.

“I’ll be the next to go to the bathroom.” her cousin Dany, daughter of Aunt Lyanna says.

“Alright but hurry up!” Sansa tells her then she goes to her wardrobe and takes out an elegant deep green blouse and her black skinny jeans. Then she puts back the jeans into the wardrobe. “The white one would be better. People in King’s Landing wear bright colours.” she says only to herself and drops the white jeans on her bed.

As she puts the blouse next to the jeans, she doesn’t like them together. She looks into the wardrobe. “No, it’s too dark… no, it’s too simple… no, it’s too plain… yes, I’ve found it!” she says happily and takes out a silver glittering top with V neckline and long sleeves. “It would be perfect.”

Sansa gets dressed quickly. She finishes when Dany goes out of the bathroom.

“Silver is my colour.” she says.

“Yes, it fits you perfectly, but also light blue and white.” Sansa tells her and enters the bathroom. “Now I must do my make-up, sorry.” she says and closes the door.

When she finishes, she combs her hair then looks at her phone. “Seven Hells! It cannot be true!” she yells. It’s 7:58 AM. She runs out of the room and runs into Arya’s. The younger Stark girl is listening to music with a headphone in her ears.

“Are you normal?” she asks her elder sister angrily.

“Sorry, but the buses are here.” Sansa answers. “I must find Robb or Jon or both. I cannot carry my packages downstairs alone.”

“We’re going only for ten days.” Arya says. “You shouldn’t bring your half wardrobe.”

“What if I meet a handsome boy there?” Sansa asks. “It would be horrible if I didn’t have any nice dress with me!”

“One or two dresses are enough.” her sister says.

“One dress for the Christmas dinner, one for Christmas day, one for the boxing day, one for New Year’s Eve…” Sansa keeps listing but Arya interrupts her.

“Don’t list all the days between today and the day we’ll come home.”

“Okay, I’ll go to see the boys and ask for some help.” Sansa says. “Please tell Bran and Rickon it’s time to go to the buses!”

“They are old enough and see the buses from their windows.” Arya refuses her sister’s question.

“You’re horrible!” she tells her.

“It’s you.” the younger girl says and puts the headphone back into her ears.

Sansa leaves her sister and runs to Robb’s room. She knocks on the door.

“Who’s that?” she hears her brother’s voice.

“Sansa.” she answers. “Could I get in?”

“No, we’re getting dressed now.” Robb replies.

“When did you get up?” Sansa asks.

“Ten minutes ago.” her brother says.

 _It cannot be true,_ Sansa thinks. _Why do boys do everything at the last moment?_

The door opens and their cousin Jon goes out of the room. “I can help you but I must help the children first.” he says. “I promised Bran to help him. He carries the biggest sport bag.”

“Okay.” she says. “I’ll go downstairs and eat some lemon cakes.”

She goes back to her room and takes her designer bag then goes down to the kitchen. There are some relatives there so she eats only one cake, the last one and drinks a cup of cocoa. After she has had breakfast, she looks at her phone again. It’s 8:17 AM. She stands up and leaves the kitchen as fast as she can. In the hallway she meets her brother and cousin. They’re carrying some packages including hers.

“Oh, thank you, you are real angels, boys!” she says.

“We should hurry.” Robb says.

They put on their shoes and coats then the boys take Sansa’s packages and the three leave the house. Outside they meet Eddard.

“Sansa, please, could you count the children?” he asks her.

“Of course, daddy.” she replies.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” he says and enters the house.

Sansa looks at the people staying outside and yells “Children, come on, go to the buses!”

“Are we also children?” Jon asks.

“I think everyone is who stays here with their parents.” she answers.

While Sansa is going to the last bus, every young relative goes to the same bus. Before she looks at them, she counts the two youngest of the family, the three-year-old Olyvar and her sister, the five-year-old Minisa, younger children of Uncle Edmure who are staying with their mother Roslin by another bus. “One, two…” she counts them then turns towards the other bus.

At the end of the bus Bran is standing with Uncle Edmure’s eldest son, Hoster, and Uncle Benjen’s two children, Edric and Allyria. “…three, four, five,six…” Sansa counts. Not far from them was Uncle Brandon’s youngest daughter, Lyarra, next to her elder sister, Brenna and Dany. “…seven, eight, nine…” Arya is next, leaning against the bus and still listening to music with her earphones on. “…ten…”

Sansa sees a boy inside the bus playing with the steering wheel. He shows his back to her wearing a winter cap. _It must be Rickon,_ she thinks, _he’s in love with everything with wheels, like cars, motorbikes, buses…_ “…eleven…”

The three eldest boys, Robb, Jon and Cregan, son of Uncle Brandon, are the next. They’re standing by the hood of the bus. Cregan lists other numbers to trouble her. “Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three…”

“Shut up, Cregan!” Sansa says, then continues counting. “…twelve, thirteen, fourteen…”

“Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three…” Cregan continues troubling her.

“Idiot.” Sansa states. “Where have I stopped?”

“Fourteen.” Jon replies.

“Aright, fourteen, and I’m the fifteen.” she says. “Who’s missing?”

“Look!” Robb says and points at Robin Arryn who’s sitting behind the other bus and crying quietly.

“Alright, everyone is here.” she says. “But why is he crying?”

“Just as usual…” Cregan says. “Your little brothers and Uncle Benjen’s children always bully him because he’s a whiny little baby.”

“Alright.” Sansa says. “Everyone can get on the buses.”

She goes to Robin and gives him her hand to help him standing up.

“Leave me alone!” the child whines.

“They won’t harass you. I won’t let them.” she tries to help.

“Leave me alone!” Robin repeats.

“Alright, but don’t cry if they bash you again.” Sansa says and leaves him alone. She goes to the second bus and gets on then she takes out her phone from her coat’s pocket and checks her facebook profile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If someone wants to know the family relationships and the age of the children:
> 
> Eddard and Catelyn has five children, like in the original story. Robb is eighteen, Sansa is sixteen, Arya is thirteen, Bran is ten and isn't paralyzed here, and Rickon is eight.
> 
> Brandon, eldest brother of Ned is married to Barbrey Dustin. They have three children: Cregan is seventeen, Brenna is fifteen and Lyarra is twelve. All the three are OCs created for this fic.
> 
> Lyanna, sister of Ned is married to Rhaegar Targaryen. They have two children: Jon is eighteen and Dany is fifteen. I don't believe in the R+L=D theory but I've given Dany to them in this fic because I didn't want to create another Stark/Targaryen OC.
> 
> Benjen, youngest brother of Ned is married to Ashara Dayne. They have two children: Edric is ten and Allyria is six. I know Edric is the son of Ashara's eldest brother in the books but I've given him to them in this fic because I didn't want to create another Stark/Dayne OC. In an old fic of mine Allyria was the bastard of Benjen and Ashara, so now I've made her their legitimate daughter. Beric doesn't play in this fic, so I wanted Allyria to be a little child who isn't interested in boys, that's why she's the younger.
> 
> Edmure, youngest brother of Catelyn is married to Roslin Frey. They have three children: Hoster is seven, Minisa is five and Olyvar is only three-years old. All the three are OCs created for this fic.
> 
> Lysa, sister of Catelyn is married to Jon Arryn. They have only one child, the seven-year-old Robin. He behaves like a whiny little baby and all of the children, especially the ones close to his age hate him and bully him regularly, especially Rickon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rickon gets up and finds his family nowhere. First, he enjoys being alone and thinks he made them disappear but later he misses them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! The chapter contains swearwords.

**Rickon POV**

When Rickon wakes up, he doesn’t care about what the time is. He yawns and rubs his eyes then gets up. He doesn’t get dressed, the grey pyjamas he’s wearing are perfect for annoying her mother. He goes downstairs. First, he goes into his room. There’s no one in there. Only his empty bed and some toys in front of his wardrobe.

He runs to the bed and drops down the blanket on the floor. He sees nothing but the flat sheet. “I made Robin disappear!” he says with surprise. To believe it he lies down on the floor to see under the bed. There’s no one there only a sock he wore some days ago without its pair. _I really made this little shit disappear_ , Rickon thinks, _but where are the others?_

He stands up and runs through the house, during this he yells. “Mommy! Daddy!” but her parents don’t answer. “Robb! Sansa! Arya! Bran!” neither do her siblings. He makes a last try. “Uncle Ben! Aunt Lya! Uncle Brandon!” but neither Benjen nor Lyanna nor Brandon answers.

Rickon runs to the kitchen and there were only some plates in the sink. _Mommy goes nowhere without washing the dishes,_ he thinks. Then it comes into his mind his family wanted to travel to King’s Landing last evening. He puts on his boots and runs outside to the garage and sees Eddard’s black minivan and Catelyn’s smaller silver five-door car. There’s also a red sedan and a dark blue hatchback near the garage, one belongs to Aunt Lya’s family, the other is Uncle Brandon’s. “They didn’t go to the airport; the cars are here.” he states.

He runs back to the house and sits down to the table in the kitchen. He closes his eyes. “I made my family disappear.” he says. Some memories come to his mind. When last summer he cracked Sansa’s window with a football and she yelled at him and called him an idiot. When two weeks ago he entered Robb’s room while he was talking to his girlfriend on the phone and he took away his baseball bat. Rickon only wanted to play a bit but since that incident he hasn’t seen his bat. When his mother last evening commanded him to sleep in the attic. What a luck it is he has found pyjamas there! Actually, it was Bran’s but he outgrew them, so it doesn’t matter. By the way, Bran didn’t want to help him with making a snowman last weekend because playing stupid online computer games with his friends was more important.

“I don’t miss them.” Rickon says as he opens his eyes. “It’s kinda cool I made my family disappear!”

He burst into laughing. He stands up and starts running around the house with boots on his feet and yelling. He does it until he feels hunger. He stops and seeks something to eat. No vegetables, no fruits, no meat, no bread, he wants chips or popcorn because his parents always tell him not to eat too much of them. Finally, he finds three packs of chips.

“I’m alone in my house, I do what I want and I eat what I want.” he says. “I eat what I want in the way as I want.”

He runs into his parents’ room with a pack of chips. He jumps on the bed and he’s jumping on it while he’s eating the chips. “It’s so yummy!” he yells with a mouth full of chips and he gets small pieces of chips all over the bed.

After he’s eaten the chips, he drops the empty pack and jumps off the bed. He goes to Sansa’s room. _I love my football and she’s taken it away and hasn’t given it back,_ Rickon thinks _, I need it back! She loves her clothes. I must take revenge for my football!_

He enters Sansa’s room. It’s very neat as always. “First, I make some mess.” Rickon says. He opens the wardrobe and drops all the clothes on the floor. He doesn’t see his football. _Where has she put it?_ He goes around the room and drops everything on the floor he sees then he goes into the bathroom and takes the hairdryer. “Alright, Sansa, you can appear now! I have your hairdryer and want to make a deal. If you give me back my football, you’ll get back your hairdryer.” he says. There’s no answer, so he brings it to his room.

The next room that Rickon visits is Robb’s. He drops down everything on the floor until finally finds his baseball bat in the back of the wardrobe. “I missed you!” he says and kisses the bat. He also takes some DVDs and leaves the room.

He does the same with Arya’s and Bran’s room and takes his sister’s fencing kit and his brother’s xbox. Rickon also has one but it’s much better to play with Bran’s. He’s eating another pack of chips while he’s playing.

Two hours later he gets bored with playing. He turns off the computer and takes the DVDs. He goes down to the living room and chooses one of the movies. At the cover he sees a young woman wearing lots of makeup and bikini. He starts playing it. It’s a porn film. “It’s disgusting!” he yells and closes his eyes. He stops the film and takes out the DVD from the player.

He takes a look at the other DVDs. He drops all that with women on its cover. Only one remains, he chooses it. “I hope it won’t be as sucks as the other was.” he says. It’s a gangster action movie named ‘In Braavos’ and isn’t recommended for children under age sixteen. “It’s perfect.” Rickon grins.

‘In Braavos’ is not a family film. It takes about 100 minutes and characters say the word ‘fuck’ about 120 times and ‘shit’ about 80 times… and of course, there’s a lot of shooting and blood in it. Rickon feels he gets bored with it after watching it three times. He has eaten a lot of popcorn and ice-cream and drunken two litres of cola while watching it. He cannot watch it for the fourth time and stands up. _I thought Robb likes superhero movies,_ he thinks. He must go to the bathroom.

The house inside looks like a junkyard but it doesn’t matter for Rickon. He gets dressed and opens the door. He slides down the steps with a sledge out of the house then he ends up in a bush.

“Fuck, it was shit.” he says as he stands up.

Sledging alone is boring so he takes it back into the garage. He begins making a snowman but it’s also not so fun alone. He feels lonely, very lonely. “I wish I got back my family.” he moans. “They may be sucks but at least they were always with me.”

Watching violent films with dirty language, making mess everywhere in the house and stealing from his siblings are not as fun as Rickon thought. After he’s eaten the last pack of chips, he feels he needs some normal food. There’s nothing in the fridge he could eat immediately but he finds some frozen pizza.

“Great.” he says.

He tries to bake one but he overbakes it. “Oh, shit!” he yells. He doesn’t want to eat this so tries with another. He bakes it not enough time. “It’s underbaked.” he states. “Horrible!” He puts it back in the oven and he overbakes it again. “Oh no!” he yells when he takes it out of the oven and it burns his hand. “Fuck, this shit burnt me.” he whines.

He runs to the sink and turns on the tap then puts his hand into the cold water. When he feels his hand is cold, he turns the tap off. He wipes his hands with a rag. He looks at the last pizza. “I must do it well.” he moans. He puts it into the oven and watches the clock on the wall. It’s a digital clock which doesn’t show the actual time, only the numbers 12:00 are blinking.

 _No matter, I definitely have time for eating dinner before I go sleeping,_ he thinks. He opens the oven and takes out the pizza. Finally, he has a success with it! “Great!” he says and takes a big bite.

After he has eaten the pizza, he turns off the light in the kitchen and goes to the living room. He turns on the TV and searches for some watchable movie which is not corny chick flicks and doesn’t include the words ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’. He finds a Christmas cartoon.

As he’s watching the cartoon, he hears something from outside. It sounds like two cars crashing. He jumps up and runs to the window. He sees some men outside. He hears one of them asking “Which door?”

“At the back of the house there’s the door of the basement.” his mate answers.

 _Fuck, they’re thieves!_ Rickon thinks. He runs around the ground floor of the house and turns on all the lights, including the lights of the basement. After he has done it, he runs upstairs and hides under his parents’ bed. He doesn’t dare to say a word until he hears the thieves’ car moving off.

“Fuck, they were real thieves!” he whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'In Braavos' is a fictive film based on the real life gangster dark comedy named 'In Bruges'.
> 
> The hairdryer, the baseball bat and the fencing kit will play a bigger role in the fight against the thieves.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theon is a nice guy but... really? After the Starks has gone, he goes to a pub and tells his criminal acquaintance that they're not at home. At night the Ironborn criminals wants to rob the house but the lights turn on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the same day as it was in the previous chapter. The only difference is this chapter tells the story from a different POV.
> 
> Warning! The chapter contains swearwords.

**Theon POV**

Theon enters the pub at 2:05 PM. He beholds immediately the man who looks a rogue. He grins and goes to his table. “Hello, Dagmer!” he greets him.

“Theon Greyjoy.” Dagmer says with a mouth full of hamburger. He puts down the food on the plate in front of him and drinks a gulp of beer. “What’s the news today?”

Theon sits down facing him. “This morning the Stark family travelled to King’s Landing.” he says. “They have a big house in the street I live.”

“An empty big house… sounds wonderful.” Dagmer says then adds quietly. “Many valuable things wait for us.”

“Yes, they have a lot of money and five children. All of them have their own laptop.” Theon answers.

“Laptops…” says the other guy. “Not bad, this month I’ve gotten eight laptops.” He was a head of a band of thieves working nearby. They break into empty houses and steal all the expensive things they find.

“Not just laptops, but also plasma TVs.” Theon tries to convince him. “Some months ago, I was in their house and saw their new plasma TV in the living room. One of the boys told me that there was a TV in every bedroom.”

“Sounds interesting,” Dagmer says “there are never enough TVs.”

“Mrs. Stark has valuable jewelleries.” the boy continues listing the Starks’ valuable things. “The eldest girl also has some.”

A waitress comes to them. “Excuse me, ser, would you like something?” she asks Theon.

“Yes, a hamburger please, and a beer.” he answers.

“You mustn’t drink beer, Greyjoy.” Dagmer tells him.

“Why?” Theon asks.

“Because tonight you will drive.” says the head of the band. “You know the address.”

“I drove last weekend to the Glover house and two weeks ago to the Karstark house.” the younger man tries to protest. “I don’t want to go to prison if you were busted.”

“Too late.” Dagmer says. “You’ve said the Stark family isn’t at home. Mrs. Stark’s and her daughter’s valuable jewelleries, seven plasma TVs and eight laptops are a nice swag. I can get a lot of money for them in the black market.”

The waitress returns with a hamburger and a pint of beer. She puts them in front of Theon.

“Thanks!” he says with a big grin and blinks at the pretty young woman. She blushes and smiles shyly. While they’re flirting without words, Dagmer takes the beer and drinks it with three large gulps.

“Hey!” Theon yells at him. “It’s mine!”

“Only it was.” Dagmer says. “I’ve said you shouldn’t drink before driving a car.”

Theon looks at the clock of his phone. “It’s only 2: 38 PM and we’re going at night.” he says.

“We’re meeting at 8:30 PM at the usual place.” Dagmar tells him. “Don’t be late!” He stands up and wants to leave, but Theon yells after him.

“What about the bill?” he asks.

“Pay it!” he yells back and leaves the pub.

“Shit.” Theon says and bites his hamburger.

After he’s eaten his hamburger, Theon pays the bill – both his own and Dagmer’s – then he goes home. He sits down on the sofa and moans. He always feels scared before their actions. “I’m just the guy who drives the car, not one of the thieves.” he tells himself. He always says it to himself before he goes robbing and after he arrives home.

He wants to believe that he’s just a nice guy who talks about the neighbours but he knows he’s actually not, because he tells his old acquaintance when they are not at home. However, he knows that he wants to rob their houses.

The afternoon flies by quickly with an action film about stealing a gemstone and some energy drinks. When the clock shows 8:00 PM, Theon puts on his jacket and his shoes and leaves home. He arrives at the storage on time. Dagmer is there with three other guys, all of them look typical criminals.

“Theon, you’re late.” he says as he drops down his cigarette.

Theon takes his phone out of his pocket. “It’s only 8:28 PM, so I’m not.” he replies.

“Alright, you drive.” Dagmer tells him. “Guys, sit into the back of the van!”

The three Ironborns go behind the van. One of them opens the backdoors and all the three get in. Theon also gets into the van. Dagmer closes the backdoor then sits on the front seat next to Theon. “Drive off!” he commands. Theon nods and the van starts off.

When they arrive at the Stark family’s house, Theon tries to park nearby. That’s not easy because the cars of the relatives park on the street in front of the house. He gives it a try, though. The van of the thieves crashes one of them.

“Fuck!” Theon comments.

“If something happened to my van, I’ll kill you.” Dagmer tells him.

“There’s a big family with a lot of relatives and a lot of cars.” Theon tries to explain. “They didn’t leave many places to park.”

“I really don’t care!” Dagmer says. He gets out of the van and shuts its door. He goes behind the vehicle and lets his men out. Theon also gets out. They start walking to the house.

Dagmer looks at Theon. “Which door?” he asks.

“At the back of the house there’s a door of the basement.” the young man answers.

“Alright.” says the head of the thieves.

The Ironborns go around the house and reach the back door. Dagmer looks at a big bald man holding a crowbar. “Lorren, do it!” he commands. Lorren nods and goes down to the door.

“Drennan, help him!” the boss commands to another man of his, an ugly thin guy with brown hair.

Drennan takes his phone out of his pocket as he goes to Lorren and starts the torch app but they don’t need it because the light in the basement is turned on suddenly. The thief puts his phone back into his pocket and all the five run back to the van and get in.

“Fuck you, asshole!” Dagmer yells at Theon. “You’ve said they travelled to King’s Landing in the morning!”

“Yes, I saw them getting on the airport buses but what if they were late for the plane and went home?” Theon yells back. He’s getting close to a panic attack.

“I don’t care, we must fuck off!” the head of the thieves tells him.

Theon is trembling and cannot start the van. It freezes. “Fuck!” he yells in panic.

“Do it, idiot!” Dagmer yells louder.

“I cannot do it…” Theon complains and closes his eyes.

“You do!” Dagmer takes a knife and holds it against Theon’s neck. “Do it or I’ll kill you!”

Poor Theon doesn’t have a choice. He must try it again. He takes two deep breaths and attempts to start the van again. He has a success; the engine starts. He steps on the accelerator and drives away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The band of Dagmer Cleftjaw are the characters named Black Lorren, Drennan and Gelmarr from the show. I've chosen this four guys as thieves because all of them look criminals. Theon is not really a member, at least he wants to believe it he's just the guy who drives the van.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Stark family is sitting on the plane when Catelyn realizes that Rickon has been left home alone. She feels horrible and cries and wants to go home to her son immediately.

**Catelyn POV**

Catelyn looks out of the window and is watching the clouds. Sansa is sitting next to her and reading a book. All the adults had first class ticket but Edmure and Roslin didn’t want to leave alone their little children so they’re travelling at the tourist class now. Instead of them two children have the chance travelling at the first class. Sansa is one of them, the other is Robin because he fears without his parents. He’s sitting with his mother. Ned is sitting with Jon Arryn and all of his siblings are sitting with their spouses.

Catelyn closes her eyes and almost falls asleep when Sansa touches her shoulder. She raises her head and looks at her daughter. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” she asks.

“Mum, what colour is Rickon’s cap?” Sansa asks.

“Dark blue with some grey stripes.” Catelyn answers. “Why?”

“While I was reading this book, something came into my mind.” her daughter says. “In the book two girls who look alike changed clothes to hoax their friends and family. Rickon was the only one who I saw from behind. He had a black cap with brown snowflakes. I’ve never seen it on him before.”

“What?” Catelyn asks.

“Is it possible that Rickon has changed his cap with another boy?” Sansa asks.

“I don’t think so.” the woman says. She feels something is wrong about this. She wants to stand up and goes to the tourist class to check the children but a stewardess comes to her.

“Could I help you, madam?” she asks.

“I want to see my youngest son.” Catelyn replies. “He’s traveling at the tourist class. I hope he’s there. I want to see him now and know he’s alright.”

“I’m so sorry madam, but you should wait until the plane has landed.” the stewardess tells her.

Catelyn looks at her watch. It’s 10:57 PM. “It lands in more than two hours.” she states. “I must know that my son is on the plane!”

“He’s here, mum.” Sansa says. “I was just thinking why he was wearing a cap I’d never seen on him before if we get our presents in King’s Landing.”

Her voice sounds serious but it cannot make Catelyn calm. Her bad feelings get stronger. The last night comes into her mind. She was angry at Rickon and took him to the attic. He had to sleep there. In the morning she was in a rush and didn’t see him. She saw only Bran and Arya in the minibus but she thought Rickon was with Robb in the other.

“Did he travel by the same bus as you did?” she asks her daughter.

“No.” Sansa says. “I saw him on the bus which Bran and Arya got on.”

“He wasn’t there!” Catelyn yells almost hysterically. “Did you travel with Robb?”

“Yes, he sat behind me with Jon.” Sansa replies.

Catelyn feels for a moment she cannot breathe. She feels weakness, she must sit down in order not to faint.

“Mum?” her daughter asks.

The stewardess comes to them. “Are you alright, madam?” she asks.

“Rickon…” she gasps. “I told him yesterday he had to sleep in the attic.” She starts crying. “What kind of mother am I? I’ve left home my eight-year-old son!”

Catelyn is crying and doesn’t really pay attention to what’s happening around her. The stewardess gets her a cup of warm tea. “Madam, please, don’t cry.” she says. “It’s lemongrass tea, you should drink it.”

Catelyn doesn’t really remember when she told her that and how she could drink the tea but as she wipes her eyes with a hankie, she sees her husband is sitting next to her. _He may have changed seat with Sansa,_ she thinks.

“Cat, when we land, I’ll call Smalljon Umber and tell him to check on Rickon.” he says.

Catelyn doesn’t answer, it seems she hasn’t understood what he said.

“It’s not a good idea.” Sansa tells him. “Yesterday I met Ned Umber and he told me they would travel to Last Heart to his grandparents.”

“They must be on their way now if they want to arrive today.” Ned moans and takes a deep breath. Some moments later he adds “I’ll call Harald Karstark. His family probably doesn’t travel this year, two weeks ago they were robbed.”

“They do.” Sansa says. “On Friday I heard Alys in front of the school telling her friend they would be in Karhold in their summer house during the whole Christmas holiday because their house is almost empty now.”

Catelyn is getting more and more nervous as she hears them and starts to cry again. Ned hugs her. “Alright, Cat, calm down.” he says.

“It can’t be true!” she yells. “No one is at home in that bloody street. Rickon is home alone and he’s just eight!”

“Theon Greyjoy is at home.” Ned says. “I asked him to take care of the house.”

“Do you know his number?” Catelyn asks with hope.

“Unfortunately, I don’t,” her husband answers. “but if Rickon is at home, he’ll take care of him, too.”

“What should we do, Ned?” she asked desperately.

“I don’t know, Cat.” he replies.

When the plane lands, the Stark family gets off. Edmure, Roslin and the children also noticed that Rickon wasn’t on the plane. His siblings are still scared when they see their mother’s eyes are red about crying.

The family goes for their luggage while Catelyn calls the police. A woman answers her call. “It’s 911. How could I help you?” she asks.

“I’m calling from King’s Landing.” Catelyn replies in a frustrated voice. “My son is eight years old and he’s home alone in Winterfell!”

“Please, calm down, madam.” the policewoman says.

“I can’t calm down!” Catelyn yells. “I want somebody to go over to the house and see that he’s alright!”

“Okay, madam, we’ll send a policeman to check on your son.” the policewoman says. “Could you tell me the address?”

Catelyn tells her the address three times, because she’s so frustrated that she cannot do it the first try. She hangs up the phone and is walking around the waiting area. She’s all nerves and doesn’t care about the family.

“Cat, please…” Ned tells her.

She stops and looks at him. “Ned, I’m flying home now.” she says determinedly.

“Why, Cat? You’ve just arrived!” she hears another male voice.

She looks at the big fat man with black beard, Robert Baratheon, Ned’s childhood best friend.

“Hello, Robert, I’m sorry,” she says “but my youngest son Rickon has been left home alone. I want to see he’s alright!”

“What? How he’s left alone?” Robert asks with a surprised face.

Catelyn doesn’t answer. She runs to the check desk and asks a receptionist. “Sorry, madam, I want a ticket to Winterfell, now!”

“I’m sorry, madam, but the next plane to Winterfell goes tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM and it’s full.” the young woman at the reception says. “You can buy a ticket only for the plane that departs on Saturday afternoon at 16:40 AM if you would like to fly to Winterfell.”

“It’s more than two days!” Catelyn yells. “My son is home alone, it’s emergency!”

“I’m so sorry but…” she says but the worrying mother turns her back on her. She runs out to the street and takes a taxi.

“Good afternoon, madam.” the driver greets her. “Where would you like to go?”

“To the railway.” Catelyn tells him. “As fast as you can, please.”

“Alright.” he says and drive off.

Catelyn arrives to the railway in twenty minutes and in time she can get the InterCity which goes from Storm’s End to Winterfell.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rickon's second day at home alone. He has to go shopping if he wants to eat. He meets Theon in the supermarket and tells him his story. The boy misses his family more and more and wants to get back them. It's not his only problem, because he's sure that the thieves who wanted to rob his house last night will go back this night. He has to defend the house but before it, he has a chance to speak with a local Santa Claus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rickon doesn't know that Theon helps the thieves.

**Rickon POV**

Rickon slept in his parents’ bed wearing his daily clothes. When he gets up, he feels hungry. He goes to the kitchen but doesn’t find any food. _I must go out and buy something,_ he thought, _but I don’t have much money._ He has an idea. He runs into Sansa’s room and makes a bigger mess while he’s searching for her money. He finds only five dollars. Then he does the same in Robb’s room. He becomes richer with 15 dollars.

_A pizza costs 4 dollars so I can buy 5 pizzas,_ he thinks, _but before I go shopping, I have to have a bath._ He collects some things for the bath: his father’s shower gel, Sansa’s shampoo and Bran’s cool towel with the emblem of their favourite football team and the signature of its players. Finally, he enters the bathroom and turns the taps on to fill the bath. He takes off his clothes and drops them on the laundry basket then he gets into the bath.

After he’s finished bath, he searches for his toothbrush but doesn’t find it. _Oh, shit! I must buy one,_ he thinks. He uses Sansa’s hairdryer to dry his hair then leaves the bathroom. He thinks he needs more money. After he’s got dressed, he steals ten dollars from Arya and five from Bran. _35 dollars must be enough,_ he thinks.

Finally, he puts on his jacket, his boots, his winter cap – which is dark blue with grey stripes – and his gloves. He steps outside the house and goes to the supermarket nearby. He’s filling his basket with pizzas from the fridge when he hears a surprised voice.

“Hi Rickon! Is that really you?”

He winces and turns to the speaker. It’s Theon Greyjoy.

“Hi Theon!” he greets him.

“What are you doing alone here?” Theon asks.

“You won’t believe me if I tell you.” Rickon says.

“Try it, I may believe.” the young man tells him.

“Okay.” the boy says. “Yesterday I made my family disappear.” He sees the sceptic expression on Theon’s face so he tries to explain what he thinks of. “When I got up yesterday morning, I was alone in the whole house. I was searching for my family but no one answered me. I was afraid they travelled to King’s Landing without me but when I saw their cars in front of the house, I had to realize they didn’t. I made them disappear, it must be the only explanation about why they are nowhere.”

“And it means, you’re alone in the house?” Theon asks.

“Yes!” Rickon answers. “I’m all alone and that’s the reason why I should buy food for myself. And a toothbrush, before I forget it.”

“If you fear alone, you can visit me any time.” Theon offers him.

“Thanks, but I'm not afraid.” the child tells him.

“Alright, you know. See you!” the man says and leaves him.

When Rickon wants to pay for the food and the toothbrush, the shop assistant looks at him strangely. “Are you here all by yourself?” she asks.

“No, my mum is waiting for me in the car.” he replies.

“And your dad?” she asks.

“He’s at work.” he replies.

“What about your brothers and sisters?” she asks.

“My sister is a baby and she’s with my mum in the car.” Rickon tells her. “She’s my only sibling.”

“Where do you live?” she asks.

“I don’t tell you.” he says.

“Why not?” she asks.

“Because you’re a stranger.” he tells her. “My mum has told me I should never tell strangers where I live.”

After Rickon has paid, he goes home. He bakes a pizza and eats it. While he’s eating, he looks out of the window. He sees a van with broken headlights parking in front of the Umber house _. I thought they travelled to Last Heart for the holiday,_ he thinks. _Wait, it’s their car! They have a black hybrid and it’s a grey van…_ He opens the window and looks out. He sees the driver for a moment, a guy with dark hair, a big nose and an evil smile. _He is one of the thieves!_

The van moves off and Rickon closes the window. He sits down on the floor. “He was that yesterday, and he will presumably come back tonight!” he says then takes three deep breaths. “Okay, I must calm down.” he tells himself. “The thief will come back and he’s not alone. They are four or five guys and I’m home alone. But it’s my home and I’ll defend it!”

Rickon stands up and goes into his room. He turns on his computer and starts the program ‘Paint’. He draws a battle plan then turns on the printer and prints it. After he’s done it, he goes down to the basement for some things. He needs some funny traps for each door and window of the ground floor and some inside the house.

He bakes and eats another pizza for lunch then looks at the clock on the wall. It’s 3:13 PM. I have a lot of time, he thinks. He folds the plan and puts it into his pocket. He puts on his jacket and leaves the house. He goes around twice then watches the cars of his family. The back lamp of Uncle Brandon’s hatchback was broken. _It was done by the thieves’ van,_ he thinks.

He needs some time to think about what he should do and some fresh air. He goes for a walk into the park nearby. In the park he sees only families and couples. Everyone is happy and smiling. He hears children laughing as they’re ice-skating and playing snowball war. He’s the only one who is alone. He realizes how much he misses his family and feels sad.

Suddenly he notices a man dressed as Santa Claus. He’s standing next to a sledge and gives candies and chocolate to children who sing to him. Two young girls of Sansa’s age dressed as elves help him.

Rickon walks to them. When his time comes, Santa looks at him nicely. “Hello, young man!” he greets him. “What would you like? A Christmas cookie or some chocolate?” he asks with a smile.

“Hello.” Rickon says. “I know you’re not the real Santa Claus but I also know, you work for him. I’d like you to give him a very important message.”

“Alright, shoot.” Santa says.

“I’m Rickon Stark of Winterfell, do you need my address or a phone number?” Rickon asks.

“No, that’s right.” Santa tells him. “I don’t think there are so many Rickon Starks living in Winterfell.”

“It’s really important.” Rickon says. “This year I need nothing but my family. I made them disappear yesterday but I really regret it! I just want to get back my mum and my dad, and all of my siblings, Robb, Sansa, Arya and Bran! I love them and miss them so much! I also want back my Uncle Brandon, Aunt Barbrey and cousins Cregan, Brenna and Lyarra, my Aunt Lyanna, Uncle Rhaegar and cousins Jon and Dany, my Uncle Benjen, Aunt Ashara and cousins Edric and Allyria, my Uncle Edmure, Aunt Roslin and cousins Hoster, Minisa and Olyvar, and Uncle Jon! I miss all of them! And if he has time my Aunt Lysa and cousin Robin. Okay?”

“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.” Santa says.

“Thanks.” the child says and wants to leave, but Santa doesn’t let him.

“Wait!” he says.

Rickon stops and looks at him.

“What would you like? Candy? Chocolate? Cookie?” Santa asks. “No one can leave without some kinda delicious present.”

“Okay.” the boy says. “I want a gingerbread cookie.”

One of the elves finds one on the sledge and gives it to Rickon. “Thanks!” he says.

“Merry Christmas!” she tells him.

“Thanks, merry Christmas!” Rickon replies then goes home. He has a lot to do before the night comes and the thieves come back…


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After he's spoken with Rickon in the supermarket, Theon has a dilemma. On the one hand, it's easy to rob an almost empty house where only a child is staying. On the other hand, he doesn't want to frighten or harm him. He tries to quit but he can't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! The chapter contains swearwords.

**Theon POV**

Theon enters the pub and orders a beer. He’s not supposed to be driving a car tonight and hopes that Dagmer doesn’t show up. He told Rickon to stay by him because he didn’t want him to be harmed by the thieves. _He’s just a child,_ he thinks, _he’s left alone at home and doesn’t deserve to get more trouble at Christmas._ While he’s thinking about things like this and drinking his beer, Dagmer sits next to him.

“You’re right, Greyjoy” he says without greeting. “The Stark family is at home. I saw a child looking out the window.”

“He’s at home alone.” Theon says. “His family has travelled to King’s Landing.”

“Don’t speak bullshit, Theon.” Dagmer tells him. “No one goes to holiday leaving a child alone.”

“They did.” the younger man says. “This poor little guy thinks he made them disappear but the truth is the whole family went to the airport by buses yesterday morning. They forgot about him on the rush and now he’s alone in the house.”

“No, you’re kidding.” the other guy laughs. “What idiot leaves his kid alone?”

“His parents did.” Theon repeats. “So, please, choose another house, I don’t want you to frighten this poor child.”

“You really think that he’s alone?” Dagmer asks.

“I met him two hours ago in the supermarket.” Theon says. “He was alone. You can imagine I was surprised when I saw him.”

“How old is this kid actually?” the thieves’ boss asks.

“Eight, I suppose.” Theon answers. “He told me he made his family disappear and now he’s alone at home.”

“Really?” Dagmer asks.

“Really.” the boy replies.

The Ironborn thief puts his hand into his leather jacket’s pocket and takes out his phone. He makes a call. “Gelmarr, it’s Dagmer--- Do you remember the house we saw yesterday night?--- Yes, that on--- Theon says the kid is at home alone--- You’re the one who he probably didn’t see, so yours the job--- You have to watch the house and follow him if he leaves home--- Yes, I want to know whether it is true he’s all alone at home--- Alright, I’m waiting for what you get to know. Bye!”

He hangs up the phone and looks at Theon.

“What do you want to do?” the young man asks.

“First, I want to be sure he’s really all alone.” Dagmer replies. “If you’re right and his family is really not here, we rob the house tonight.”

“What?” Theon asks. “We shouldn’t rob a house which is not empty!”

“Only a child stays at home.” Dagmer explains. “I don’t fear a child!”

“But what if you frighten him?” Theon asks.

“What the fuck do you mean by ‘You’?” asks the criminal.

“You want to rob the Stark house and I won’t help.” the boy tells him. “I don’t want Rickon to get frightened or injured.”

“Be quiet, Greyjoy!” Dagmer tells him. “I don’t want anyone to hear what we’re talking about. By the way, I don’t give a shit about a child who doesn’t go on a Christmas holiday with his family.”

“Dagmer, you’re a heartless fucker.” Theon says. “I refuse to help you!”

“Alright.” Dagmer says. “If you don’t help us, tomorrow the police will visit you. I’ll call them and tell them you robbed the Karstarks and the Glovers.”

Theon feels the blood is freezing in his veins. Getting into prison is something he’s never wanted. He’s known Dagmer for long years and he’s the type of man who never jokes with prison. If he doesn’t do what he wants, he’ll report him to the cops so he’d better play along.

“Okay, I’ll help you.” finally, he says.

“I like it.” the thief grins. “We’ll meet at half past eight PM at the usual place.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.” Theon nods.

“Now drink a coffee because you’ll drive.” Dagmer tells him. “I hope tonight you won’t crash again.”

“I try not to.” the young man says.

“What?” the thief asks.

“I’ve meant I won’t do.” Theon corrects himself.

“Your beer and sandwich are here, ser.” a waitress says and puts a pint of beer and a sandwich in front of Dagmer. “Would you like anything else?”

“Yes, a cup of coffee for my friend.” he says.

“Alright, how do you drink it, ser?” she asks Theon.

“With a little sugar.” he answers.

“Black.” Dagmer corrects him. “Only women drink coffee with sugar or milk.”

“Black, please.” Theon tells the waitress.

“Alright.” she replies and goes back to the bar.

Theon feels horrible. He wants to stand up and run home. He wants to call the police and tell them without name he knows what Dagmer did and where he’s staying at half past eight tonight and where he wants to go and why. Only the fear keeps him sitting by the table. Dagmer bites his sandwich. Theon just stares at the table between them.

The waitress puts down the coffee in front of him. “Your coffee, ser.” she says.

Theon gets frightened as he looks at her. “Thanks.” he says in a weak voice.

“Are you alright, ser?” the woman asks.

“Yes, Miss.” he says and smiles at her confusedly.

The waitress leaves them and goes to another table. Dagmer looks at Theon. “If you play the coward and we get busted for it, I’ll definitely kill you.” he says.

“I’ve heard it many times.” Theon replies.

Dagmer wants to tell him something but his phone rings. He takes it and answers.

“Yes?” he asks and looks at Theon. “It’s Gelmarr.” Then he continues talking on the phone. “What’s the news?--- I’ve known--- Call Lorren and Drennan and tell them we’re meeting at half past eight at the usual place--- to the house with the lonely child, where else?”

Hearing it is like a punch in the stomach for Theon. _Dagmer will rob the Stark house and he’s going to harm Rickon if he protests! I won’t take a part in this shit,_ he thinks.

Dagmer hangs up the phone and looks at his driver-will-be. “Remember, the usual place at half past eight. Don’t be late!” he says with an evil grin and stands up. He leaves the pub and Theon with both of their bills unsettled.

Theon just watches him leaving then quickly pays and leaves the pub, too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rickon guesses that the thieves will go back and try to rob the house so he makes some creative traps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones but I hope you'll like it.

**Rickon POV**

“This is my house. I have to defend it!” Rickon says determinedly as he puts the battle plan onto his table. He takes a look at it. Everything looks like a great idea; he just has to do them. First, he goes down to the basement. He finds some things that he can use. He brings them upstairs then covers all the steps with tar. _If someone tries to go upstairs here, he’ll definitely lose his shoes and socks,_ he thinks. _It wouldn’t be comfortable to step on pins barefoot._ He laughs as he throws a lot of pins at the inner door of the basement.

He takes a bucket and fills it with water. It’s cold outside, the water freezes in moments after he’s poured over the steps in front of the house’s front door. He repeats it with the steps outside the basement then he goes into the living room. It’s located on the ground floor and has a big window. He looks at the Christmas tree standing in the corner. He takes off the ornaments and puts them into a box.

He takes off the lights and ties one of its ends to the trunk of the Christmas tree. The pine needles stab his hands. “Shit!” he says angrily but he continues his plan. He stretches it about 5 inches over the floor and ties its other ending to a chair standing close to the door.

Rickon takes a look at the room. “It won’t be good enough.” he states. “The lights are visible.” He takes the chair to another place and goes to the window carefully. “Completely perfect!” he grins. “He cannot leave the room without knowing the trap. The tree will fall on him.” then opens the window a bit. He puts the ornaments back on the tree then leaves the living room as careful as he can.

The room of his parents is also located on the ground floor. It’s the next place Rickon enters. He opens the door and puts two buckets full of snow under the window. After he’s done it, he collects his mother’s jewellery, puts them into a bag and leaves the room. He does the same with Sansa’s jewellery and takes the bag up to the attic. “These jerks shouldn’t find anything valuable!” he says.

Rickon returns to his parents’ room with a blowtorch found in the basement, some strings and Sansa’s hairdryer. He brings a chair next to the buckets and attaches the blowtorch with the string over the window. He tries it. It works. “If one of them grabs the string, blowtorch will burn his head!” he giggles.

For finishing his job, he opens the door of his parents’ private bathroom and enters. He turns on the tap of the bath and waits until it’s fulfilled with water. He turns off the tap and drops the hairdryer into the bath. He blocks the toilet with a lot of toilet paper and rags from the attic then fills it with different types of chemicals like toilet unblocker, liquid washing powder and finally, a full bottle of nail polish remover containing acetone that he found in Sansa’s bathroom when he searched for jewellery.

“He will learn it’s disgusting to break in other’s houses and steal their things.” Rickon says then leaves his parents room with the chair and locks the door from the hallway. _If he survives the blowtorch and the toilet, he won’t be able to leave this room,_ he thinks.

He goes to the kitchen. He puts some boards on the windows but he hasn’t much experience so they look lame after. It doesn’t bother Rickon. He has found some paint can in the basement and he’s going to use them. First, he paints blue the visible parts of the window then he continues his work with other traps. He puts a can of white paint onto the kitchen’s door and a can of pink paint over the front door. If someone can open it, the paint will fall on his head… but he makes it harder to open the front door with a hot electric BBQ starter on the doorknob.

After he has secured all the doors and the ground floor windows, he has to do something with the steps. _It wouldn’t be pleasant if these jerks could go upstairs,_ he thinks. He runs into Robb’s room and some minutes later leaves it with a weight. Then he goes back for another and another and another. He fixes all the four weights to strings and then applicates them to the stair’s handrail.

Rickon feels something is missing. He sits down on the floor and is thinking for a while then he jumps up with a glorious smile. “Arya’s fencing blade!” he yells gladly then he runs to find it. He sharpens its end then drops over the carpet running down the middle of the stairs. He takes the hammer and hits some on the blade. _I know, she will hate me for this but she would hate me more if I allowed these jerks to steal her laptop and her Hi-Fi system,_ he thinks.

“Sorry, Arya, but I must do it.” he says then he takes the carpet back to its place but with a little difference: it’s not as flat as it was. He made it more uneven for hiding the sharpened blade. Then he goes back to his room and takes his baseball bat. _I’ll keep it with me,_ he thinks.

He guesses he’s already made everything he had to and feels hunger. He goes downstairs then carefully slips into the kitchen. He hopes he has enough time to bake a pizza and eat it. He does so. When he’s eating the last slice, he hears again the sound of two cars crashing. He winces and whispers “They must be here!”

He stands up and grabs the baseball bat. The window is blue so he cannot see what’s happening outside. He slips out of the kitchen and runs upstairs close to the wall in order not to hurt his own legs. He runs into Bran’s room and takes a pack of petards and a pack of matches. _I can’t know, I may need them,_ he thinks.

He leaves Bran’s room and lies down near the stairs. He’s holding the baseball bat tight and watching what’s happening downstairs. Some moments later he hears strange noises.

“It has begun.” he states.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be longer, maybe the longest chapter of the whole story. In that you can read about how the thieves get into the traps.


End file.
